Wicked is currently performing at Times Union Ctr Perf Arts Moran Theater and continue through Sunday, January 22, 2012. Wicked, the latest offering from the Artist Series in Jacksonville, is a technically lavish, expertly performed production of the immensely entertaining and hugely popular show that has been running on Broadway since 2003.

Anne Brummel (left) as Elphaba and Tiffany Haas as Glinda in Wicked Musical at the Times-Union Center's Moran Theater

It provides a clever backstory to Elphaba, the mean and green Wicked Witch of the West played by Margaret Hamilton in the iconic 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” but has never been a critical darling. But the characters are fascinating and the plot dovetails satisfyingly with the familiar story we know from the movie. Dorothy’s trip to Oz coincides with the last half of the second act and while she is never seen on stage, she is referenced in several scenes.

The story centers on Elphaba, a young woman born with green skin and mysterious powers, a permanent outsider who strikes unlikely alliances at school with the dazzlingly popular Glinda (soon to be the good witch) and the dashingly irresponsible Fiyero. When she learns that the animals of Oz, once treated as equals to humans, are being oppressed, Elphaba becomes an unlikely animal-rights advocate and a social outcast.

The touring version now at the Moran Theater in The Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts works wonderfully well. Anne Brummel makes a fierce Elphaba and Tiffany Haas a bubbly, self-absorbed Glinda. Don Amendolia is expert as the humbug Wizard and Timothy Britten Parker makes a terrific goatman as Dr. Dillamond.

The sets, costumes and special effects are dazzling as Glinda flies around in her bubble and Elphaba on her broom, while the Wizard’s mechanical head roars and belches smoke.

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on Saturday, January 7th, 2012 at 8:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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